Uhuru’s flight turned back due to heavy fighting in Yemen
President Uhuru Kenyatta was Thursday night forced to cut short his journey to Los Angeles for on official duty due to the intense fighting in Yemen.
“Following reports of increased military activity in Yemen, there was a challenge on the routing leading to a decision to turn back. The President touched the ground at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 11.42 pm,” read a statement from Statehouse spokesman Manoah Esipisu.
“His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta left Nairobi last evening on board his official Kenya Airforce aircraft destined for Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, where he was due to connect to a commercial flight to Los Angeles.”
President Kenyatta was travelling to Los Angeles to attend the 2015 Milken Institute Global Conference.
The death toll from fighting in Yemen since late March has topped 1,000, the United Nations said on Thursday
At least 1,080 people had been killed in the country, including 48 children and 28 women, and a further 4,352 people had been injured in the violence between March 19 and April 20, according to the latest toll from the World Health Organization.